UN chief to discuss Pakistan floods with General Assembly

NEW YORK - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon plans to meet with the UN General Assembly Thursday to discuss the response to the devastating floods in Pakistan that have affected millions of people.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said Wednesday that Ban will brief the 192-nation assembly on his visit to Pakistan’s flooded regions last weekend.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the funding response for the floods has improved, but that the efforts must be sustained in the days and weeks ahead in order to find resources to reach people who desperately need help, according to Nesirky.

“OCHA says the scale of response is still not commensurate with the scale of disaster of almost unprecedented magnitude,” Nesirky said.

OCHA said at least six to eight million Pakistanis, including 3.5 million children, are in desperate need of assistance. It said deaths from water-borne diseases can still be prevented if the resources needed are obtained immediately because the monsoon rains, which contributes to the floods, will continue for another four weeks.

Pakistan has said that more than 1,600 have died in the floods.

The UN said the General Assembly meeting will express solidarity with Pakistan and urge governments to donate more to the relief operations in the country.

The UN last week launched an emergency appeal for $460 million for Pakistan and planned to review the state of funding within 30 days. But funds have been slow to come while flood-related problems have become a big challenge for Pakistan.